House of Mystery River Access
48.3848° N, 114.1186° W
A narrated walk-through of this site: the ramp, the gaps, the surfaces, and the hazards, read from the survey.
Read the transcript
From the intersection of MT 206 and Highway 2, travel east for 2.1 miles. Turn left on the gravel drive immediately after the Glacier Ziplines property.
The parking area is packed dirt.
There is no designated accessible parking.
The Flathead Rivers Alliance has not published measured survey data for this site yet, so the details that follow come from the site description rather than from field measurements.
The launch itself is vehicle accessible bar packed dirt, pebble bar.
What to watch for, in the survey crew's own words:
Launch washes out at high water, making put-ins and take-outs dynamic and challenging.
Site is often extremely muddy after periods of rain.
There are no facilities at this site.
This site has not been photographed in 360 yet, so there is no immersive imagery to accompany this description.
Conditions on the Three Forks change quickly. Check the gauge the morning you float.
Wind 2 mph NW Tomorrow
86° 63°
The site
This undeveloped access approximately 1 R.M. downstream from the confluence for the main Flathead River is used by recreators floating the lower miles of the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork or the undesignated stretch of the South Fork below the Hungry Horse Dam. A steep and heavily used gravel road makes multiple switchbacks down to an eroded beach launch.
Access concerns
Recorded verbatim by the FRA field crew
-
Launch washes out at high water, making put-ins and take-outs dynamic and challenging.
-
Site is often extremely muddy after periods of rain.
Access-site lens
Launch profile
- FRA access description
- Vehicle accessible bar Packed dirt, pebble bar
- Kayaks + canoes
- Good
- Paddleboards
- Good
- Carry terrain
- Flat unpaved
Safety + condition
- Safety interpretation
- Fair
- Overall condition
- Fair
- Access hazards
- Steep banks · Unstable footing · Submerged hazards likely
- Water obstacles
- None observed in the source
- Deferred maintenance signal
- Observed
Accessibility observations
- Designated accessible parking
- None
- Route shown in sheet
- Not observed
- Route obstacles
- Steep grades, rough surface
- Observed barriers
- Steep grades, rough surfaces
- Accessible water feature
- Not observed
Visitor management
- Parking estimate
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Simultaneous launch capacity
- Single
- Launch queue evidence
- None
- Designated camping indicated
- Not assessable from the source imagery
- Registration infrastructure
- None identified in the source sheet
Experience indicators
- Setting
- Semi primitive
- Recreation character
- Lightly managed
- Development in view
- None
- Social trails
- Isolated
- Informal campsite evidence
- Not observed
- Use-conflict evidence
- None observed in the source
Recreation profile
- Observed recreation
- Paddling, none observed
- Water skill interpretation
- Varies by conditions
- Physical ability interpretation
- Moderate
- Wear patterns
- Moderate
- Heavy-use signals
- Bare soil, rutting
- Privacy
- Secluded
Curated RAPG fields are interpreted from the FRA access sheet and its photographs. Conditions may extend beyond the photographed views. FRA’s field measurements in the Measured access card remain the authority for access type, grades, widths, surfaces, gaps, and accessible parking.
Photos
Field photography Terrain360, July 2026 · site photos courtesy Flathead Rivers Alliance
Getting there
From the intersection of MT Highway 206 and US Highway 2, travel east for 2.1 miles. Turn left on the gravel drive immediately after the Glacier Ziplines property.
Site statistics currently unavailable FRA adds measurements as staff and volunteers complete them.
View the survey sheet
Bear Creek
RM 53.4 · 3,822 ft
Scene 18 · at the water
Essex
RM 48.7 · 3,704 ft
Scene 26 · at the water
Paola
RM 41.6 · 3,571 ft
Scene 19 · at the water
Cascadilla
RM 30.6 · 3,381 ft
Scene 20 · at the water
Moccasin Creek
RM 23 · 3,281 ft
Scene 29 · at the water
West Glacier
RM 14.9 · 3,150 ft
Scene 22 · at the water
Blankenship River Access (West)
RM 9.5 · 3,101 ft
Blankenship River Access (East)
RM 9.4 · 3,100 ft
Scene 11 · at the water
Elevation sampled from USGS 10m along the Wild & Scenic centerline. Hover or focus a site to see the panorama closest to the water.
The Three Forks flow through the homelands of the Séliš, Ql̓ispé, and Ktunaxa peoples, frequented by the Amskapi Piikani. About the homelands